Neros last moments
by KMK339
Summary: NEROXRAVEN FTW! This is one of my NeroxRaven stories, edited by ScottishLaura. If you read it, please review and let me know what you think.
1. Found

Raven turned corner after corner. Everytime she turned, another corner appeared. She turned the next corner, and she knew she was nearly there, just a few more meters now.  
Wait! Thought Raven. Where's the door? There is supposed to be a door here, the map said it was this way! Alarm bells started to ring in her head. She was being watched. She knew it. Raven looked around for somewhere to take cover. There was no cover at all. She swore under her breath in Russian. Raven took off at a run in the direction she had come. Now what was she going to do? How else was she going to find Nero? He'd been taken here, she knew that much, but the place was huge, how was she going to find him? She got to the end of the corridor, she could hear footsteps coming up behind her, and fast. She took a left, deciding that she had more of a chance at finding Nero if she went the opposite way to the way she came. Turning left had taken her to a door. She immediately went in, there was no other choice. Walking in, she came to a large room full of crates and boxes and she dived behind the nearest crate just as the door at the other side of the room opened. Some people walked in talking. Two she guessed. Two men, one about six foot, one about 5"3. Raven couldn't see who they were though from behind the crate, but she suddenly realised that they would see her when they walked past. Raven had to find a better hiding spot. Turning around, she saw several larger crates piled on top of each other and keeping as out of sight as possible, she started to climb. She got to the top and moved to the back of the crate hoping she wouldn't be spotted there. They were now only a few meters away, and she could hear exactly what they were saying.

"I feel sorry for the guy." The first guard admitted, not realising that what he was saying was being overheard. The second guard agreed.  
"Yeah, you've got to hand it to him though, he's been here nearly a week and hasn't given us any information." The other guard replied.  
"Yeah. If I were him, I would have cracked as soon as the torture started." He sighed. "I can't stand it, especially with what they are putting him through! I suppose it's because they know he's hard to break."  
"Probably," there was a pause. "So where are you off to?" asked the second guard.  
"I was just going to check on him now, how about you?"  
"I was just going to get some dinner." replied the second guard. The two guard were just walking out the door and Raven wasn't 100% sure who they were talking about, but she could make an accurate guess. Nero. She knew it'd be in her best interest to follow them. Raven climbed down from the crates and crept out of the door, making sure to keep enough distance between her and the guard.

She had been following the pair for about 2 minutes when the second guard left, leaving just the first guard and her. The first guard continued for a minute before taking a left that lead to a door. This door was protected. There was a lock that needed a key of the guards belt, there was a fingerprint scanner, an iris scanner, and a PIN code. The guard opened each section of the door, and walked in. The room was big with white walls, there were workstations dotted around the room. The far wall was the most interesting. It was lined with clear windows at the top half, the bottom half remaining solid. From where Raven was, you couldn't see what was on the other side of the clear windows. The guard walked into the room, he still hadn't noticed Raven, and had left to door open. As he got closer he took some keys off his belt and started searching for the right one. They were about 5 meters away from the other end of the room now, and Raven could just about see through the windows. It was another white room, smaller than the one she was in now, about 4 meters by 4 meters, and in the middle of the room was Nero.

He was clamped down to a solid looking silver chair in the middle of the room, as she got closer she could see him in more detail. The bottom half of his face was covered in dried blood, he had a deep cut on his forehead and scratches all over his neck. His white shirt was torn open and raggedy in several places and was stained with deep, crimson blood.

The guard went over to a door that lead into the room where Nero was being held. Raven contemplated attacking the guard and taking the keys but her decision was made for her when the guard turned around. She dived behind the nearest workstation, panting. If the guard saw her, she would have no chance, there had to be at least a hundred guards in this building, more than she was prepared to take on. She was just going to have to wait for her next chance. Inside the room the guard had walked over to a wall that had several buttons on it. He said something to Nero, Raven moved closer so she could hear what was being said.

"You can end this, right now. All you need to do is tell us what we want to know." The guard was speaking almost as though he was speaking to a child.

"So you have said to numerous times, but it does not mean that I will tell you." Replied Nero, sounding as calm as ever. "On another note, don't you take that tone of voice with me. Respect your elders, young sir."

"Shut up! We don't need a speech." The guard backhanded Nero hard across the face. He turned back to the guard defiantly.

"Thank you, sir, may I have another?" Nero spoke with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Just give in, then you will be free from all this torture." The guard said with a slight tone of impatience in his voice.

"Oh I quite enjoy the torture, its hearing your speech every hour that gets annoying" Nero said casually.

"JUST TELL US WHERE H.I.V.E. IS!" Shouted the guard, suddenly losing his temper.

"Actually, No, I don't think I will." Said Nero calmly, noting with satisfaction that he had managed to annoy the guard.

"Ok then," said the guard, regaining his temper "Have it your way." The guard reached out and pressed a button on the wall.

A blast of electricity was sent through Nero. Raven watched in shock as Nero jerked around in his chair, pain surging through him. Nero refused to shout out, he wouldn't give the guard that satisfaction.


	2. The Rescue

**Ok, I know it took me a while, but I have been busy, I haven't done much, but I will update soon. And thanks to Scottie for editing it for me =)**

**Enjoy**

The guard smiled, seeing the pain on Nero's face. He knew it hurt, even if Nero wouldn't admit it.

"Are you sure you have nothing to tell us, Doctor Nero?" The guard asked mockingly, making eye contact with Nero, but quickly turning away again.

"Go to hell!" said Nero through gritted teeth.

"Ok, looks like I'll be seeing you again tomorrow morning." The guard pressed the button once more, sending yet another shock through Nero, before walking back out of the room, leaving Nero alone.

Raven dived back behind a workstation, trying to keep out of the guard's line of sight. The guard walked past her and straight for the door. Raven made her move, getting up and following the guard to the door before grabbing him round the neck. The guard gasped several times in an attempt to call out, but he eventually passed out. Raven grinned, and dropped his unconscious body to the floor. She reached down and took the keys out of the guards' pocket before walking back over to the door to the room where Nero was being kept. It took her several seconds to find the right key, but when she did, the door swung open breathed a sigh of relief. She stepped into the room and looked around. Nero had his eyes closed, he hadn't heard her come in.

"Max." said Raven quietly, walking towards Nero "Max, are you ok?"

Nero groaned and slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred  
"Natalya, is that you?"

Raven smiled.  
"Yes" she walked over to him and crouched down "How are you feeling?"

Nero sat up, smiling weakly.  
"I've felt better." Ravens' smile disappeared from her face.

"I'm sorry." Said Raven, looking Nero straight in the eye. "It was my fault you got captured in the first place, and I wasn't even good enough to get you back before…" Raven looked at Nero's wounds once again and then looked at the floor, feeling bad.

"This wasn't your fault Natalya, don't blame yourself." Nero looked down at Raven, trying to meet her eye, she looked up and their eyes met. Nero smiled. "You and I know that I would be dead if it wasn't for you, you have saved my life many times over. Thank you."

Raven smiled sadly back.  
"Let's get you out of here" She stood up and went over to the wall with the buttons on it and looked for a way to unlock the seat. She came across a button with the shape of an unlocked padlock on it. It was her best bet, she pressed the button. There was the sound of grating metal, and Raven looked straight to Nero, but fortunately, the seat only unlocked.

Nero stood up, rubbing his wrists, but not paying attention to the wounds that covered his body. He looked up to see Raven looking at him, clearly concerned.

"Are you sure your OK?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Nero replied.

"But you look horrible!" Continued Raven, still clearly concerned.

"Thank you." Nero said sarcastically. He began to laugh, but stopped suddenly as pain surged through his lungs, sending him into a coughing fit. Raven saw the pain in his eyes. He was clearly in pain, but would not admit it. If he found it hard to laugh there was probably something wrong with his lung. Raven studied Nero. The top of his shirt was stained with deep crimson blood. She reached forward and undid the first three buttons of Nero's shirt to reveal a deep cut across Nero's chest.

"What did they do to you?" said Raven softly, concern filling her voice.

"Nothing." Nero said, feeling awkward "I'm fine, really" Nero stepped backwards and started to walk towards the door, but his legs wouldn't carry him and he dropped to his knees.

"No you're not. I wasn't born yesterday Max, I can see you're in pain." Raven hurried over to him and knelt down. He was taking deep breaths, trying to conceal the pain that surged through his body.


	3. There and Back

Raven was worried; she didn't know how much blood Nero had lost. He could die. She grabbed his hand and helped him up.

"Come on, Max, we've got to get back to H.I.V.E., and we need to be out of here quickly. Someone might come to check on you, and if they see that you're gone we'll never get out of here." Raven said, supporting Nero as they walked towards the door, his arm over her shoulder. Nero turned his head slightly so that he was looking at her out of the corner of his eyes, he smiled. Raven turned her head, feeling that she was being watched and Nero immediately turned back. They stepped into the corridor and Raven stopped, looking from side to side to make sure no one was there. Looking around for a clue, Nero asked

"Where do we go?"

"I have no idea" Raven said honestly. "Let's go this way." She took off in the direction she came from, hoping she would remember the way she came in. But it just led to more and more corridors; they were getting more and more lost. Then they came to a room Raven recognised.

"I know this place" said Raven stopping and looking around. "I came in this way, through a vent in the roof." Raven turned to Nero. "But you're injured, you can't get up."

"Where is it we have to get to?" Asked Nero, looking for the vent she was talking about. Raven pointed to the top left corner of the room, and sure enough there was a grey vent, about 5 meters up. The vent was up too high, and Nero could see that. But this might be the only way out of this place, he argued in his head. Nero made up his mind.

"So how do we get up?" He asked.

"You can't get up there, you can barely walk, let alone climb, and I won't be able to carry you!" Raven said, but she already knew he was right, if they didn't get out soon someone would see them, for all they knew, a silent alarm might already have been raised.

"Do you have a grappler?" Nero asked. A glimmer of hope spread across Raven's face.

"Yes," she frowned. "But will it be able to carry the both of us?"

"It probably could, but it doesn't have to." Raven looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You go up first and open the vent, climb in and pass the grappler down to me." Nero said, smiling slightly.

"Okay then." Raven aimed the grappler up towards the vent. "Here goes!" she called, and fired. It hit directly next to the vent, Raven pressed the button and was brought up towards it, stopping as she got high enough. She reached on hand out and grabbed the vent, it was still unlocked from earlier. She pulled on it and it opened and reached up to climb in. She found something to hold onto and pulled herself up. She was in the vent.

She unlocked the grappler and dropped it out of the vent. Nero caught the grappler and started fastening it into his wrist.

Back up in the vent Raven was looking around. Something didn't seem right, and although she couldn't see anything out of the norm, she could sense it. Suddenly, there was a zap of electricity, and Raven jerked as the bolt sped through her body. She grunted and fell backwards through the open vent. From below, Nero heard a grunt from the vent and looked up, he saw Raven falling limp from the vent. She was going to hit the floor from 5 meters up. He stopped fastening the grappler and ran so that he was directly below the vent. He stretched his arms out and caught her. He was still weak from the torture, and struggled to take her weight, he could barely even walk. He forced himself not to fall over, and instead dropped to his knees, Raven still in his arms. He gently lowered her to the ground as pain shot up his back.


	4. Awkward

**Its quite short again, I know, its coz I write a bit, then send it to Scottie to edit :) **

**I'll add some more soon =D**

Pain shot down Nero's back and he gritted his teeth, trying to cut the pain out. He looked down at Raven. She was slipping into unconsciousness and was barely breathing. Nero didn't know what had happened in the vent, but he could make a pretty good guess. The vents were metal, it wouldn't be difficult to hook up electricity to them. That way if they suspected someone was in the vent, all they would need to do was press a button. He wondered how strong the bolt of electricity was, would she die…

No, he thought, if it was going to kill her, she would be dead by now, electricity had an immediate effect. All the same, she didn't look to good. She was paler than usual and her breathing had got considerably slower, if it slowed anymore, it would stop completely. Nero wasn't prepared to let that happen. Nero reluctantly got to his feet and looked around. There was still no sign of any guards. But they must know that that he was out, they had turned on the electricity in the vents.

They had to get out fast, and leaving it much longer and there would be armed guards in each doorway! Nero looked back down at Raven, she was unconscious now. He would either have to carry her, or leave her there. He crouched down and touched her forehead with the back of his hand. She was ice cold. He put one arm round her back and sat her up and he put his other arm under her legs. He summoned all his remaining strength and lifted. He managed to get up half way, so he was squatting and then his leg gave out. He dropped to one knee and gained his balance before attempting to stand up again. This time he managed to get to his feet without falling down again. Pain shot up his right leg but he ignored it and took a step forward. The pain was excruciating, but he knew that if they were caught it wouldn't be him who would suffer. It would be Raven they would target, they would use her to get to him, and if that didn't work then they would just kill her. He forced the thoughts out of him mind and turned to the door that they came from.

"Now what?" He asked the still Raven. Nero didn't know the way, but he couldn't just give up. He started walking forwards in hope of finding something. He walked out of the room, looked both ways to make sure no one was there, and then kept going. The pain in his leg was distant now; it was the least of his worries.

He suddenly got the feeling he was being watched, he looked around without stopping or slowing down. He couldn't see anyone, it was probably a security camera, soon every guard in the building would be looking for them.

He heard a mumble and looked down. Raven was waking up. Her eyes started to open, and he noticed that she was breathing normally again. Despite everything he found himself smiling. Raven opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

"Max, what happened?" her voice was weak.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Replied Nero, smiling slightly. He stopped smiling, he had started to feel weird about carrying Raven, it was okay when she was unconscious, but now it just didn't feel right. "Err, can you walk?"

Raven seemed to suddenly notice that she was being carried and also seemed uncomfortable about it.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She replied.

She put her arms round Nero's neck and he took his arm out from under her legs, moving it to her waist to help lower her to the ground. Her feet touched the floor; her arms were still round his neck and his hands on her waist. Neither of them let go. Raven looked up at Nero and smiled, Nero smiled back. Nero seemed to suddenly realise that he was still holding onto her, he quickly releases her waist, and turned away so he was no longer looking at Raven.


	5. Back To Where We Started

**I kind of forgot about this Fanfic.. which is why I haven't updated it ages, but I have a short update now. **

**(I didn't ask Scottie to edit this one and I probably will not be doing so anymore; I am aware that she is very busy and I see no reason to burden her with something else to do. :P And I'd like to think I was at least somewhat capable of writing by myself. xD) **

Nero turned away from her, and for a while nobody said anything. Awkward. Eventually he broke the silence.

"Um… So we should probably go…" Nero still didn't make eye contact, but he looked up.

"Yeah" Raven smiled and looked from side to side. "What way?"

"Your guess is as good as mine" said Nero smiling back at her. "We came from that way" he said, pointing down the corridor "so we should probably go that way…"

"Alright" Raven turned and walked in the direction Nero had suggested.

Nero caught up and walked beside her, again in silence.

They walked for a while without any clues as where to go. Then Raven stopped, putting her hand out and preventing Nero from continuing.

"What is it?" asked Nero, struggling to see what had caused her to stop.

"I heard…" she looked around and the ducked.

What caused her to duck was unknown to Nero, until he saw the crack in the wall from where the bullet hit. Nero spun around and searched for the source of the bullet. Nothing. He turned to where Raven was, she too was looking around. Then there was a bang and another bullet hit the wall behind them. Once again there was silence before a gun was fired once again.

"Where's it coming from?" Nero seemed greatly confused.

"I don't know… But whoever it is they don't have very good aim"

As if Ravens comment had angered them a bullet sped past Ravens head, missing her ear by a fraction of a millimetre.

"You think we should go?" Nero asked, taking a step backwards.

"No… We don't know where they are. For all we know we could be surrounded"

"It's nice to see what one of you has a brain"

Both Nero and Raven spun around at the sound of a new voice. Behind them were about 15 armed men, the one who spoke was standing in the front and was clearly the leader. Each of them held a sub-machine gun and wore a grey uniform with a mask covering their faces. On the front of their uniforms was the H.O.P.E. logo.

Both Raven and Nero took a step backwards only to bang into some more H.O.P.E. guards that were standing behind them. Raven cursed under her breathe and Nero looked around for a method of escape. Nothing; they really were surrounded.

"Put your hands up!" Ordered one of the guards, gesturing with his gun.

Raven and Nero hesitated, then, realising they would gain nothing from resisting (at least not yet), the two raised their arms above they're head. Raven certainly wasn't in perfect condition and – while Nero didn't doubt her ability to be able to handle many-an-enemy – there was no point in making vain attempts at escape.

Some guards approached them and pulled their arms behind their back, binding them there with a very hi-tech looking pair of handcuffs, which fastened very tightly around their wrists. Four guards then moved in, two grabbing Raven and the other two Nero, and along with the rest of the guards (which still surrounded them: they clearly weren't underestimating their enemies) began to walk down the corridor. Raven guessed they were heading in the direction of somewhere they would be locked up and kept securely until they had something to do with them, and was shortly proved right.

The guards came to a stop outside a large silver door, which had several bolts and padlocks on it, suggesting that whatever/whoever was in there was likely to have no choice but to stay. One of the guards in the front stepped forward and began to undo the various locks, the large door opening with a clank about a minute later. Nero and Raven were escorted into the room, which housed many different cages of different sizes and seemingly differ securities. Nero and Raven were thrown into two different cells that were situated next to each other, then the doors were locked securely and the guards left, the large door shutting with a metallic thud.


End file.
